20mph speed limit: Wimbledon mum's petition gaining speed

Samantha Stimpson is sick and tired of seeing cars speed down roads everywhere you go.

The Wimbledon mum thinks if something isn't done to combat the problem, then someone may soon lose their life.

"We regularly see skips, huge lorries and vans speeding through junctions and traffic lights or along highly pedestrianised routes in Merton only a fraction away from prams, bikes and the elderly," Mrs Stimpson said.

"You feel totally vulnerable.

"This is risking a serious or fatal collision that is preventable by driving at a sensible speed where there are people so close."

When Mayor of London Sadiq Khan announced he was committed to rolling out 20mph speed limits across the capital it came as some relief.

But she isn't taking any chances.

So she started a petition to make Merton the next borough to slow down.

"Junctions such as at the bottom of Wimbledon Hill where there are at least three schools within a couple of hundred metres, you’ll see cars and vans tear through the narrow junction to get through the lights, to save a couple of seconds, and risk colliding with children on the edge of the road," she said.

"Or on Worple Road where school children walk to their school playing fields and huge articulated lorries speed down past them.

"It’s just a question of when for Merton, and we’d like a review for our borough to be next, to make the roads safe for all."

Leader of the council, Stephen Alambritis, said they are committed to making the roads safer, but it would take time.

"We get a lot of complaints about bad parking and speeding around schools," he said.

"We are looking to put cameras around schools in the hopes of making the areas safer.

"Making Merton a 20mph zone was part of our manifesto, but it will take a bit of time to get the lay of the land.

"We need to engage with with the borough commander, residents and anyone else who may also want a say, but it is something we are looking into."

Mrs Stimpson's campaign currently has more than 550 signatures.

As a driver herself she understands that people may be frustrated being forced to slow down, but said it was worth it in the end.

"We appreciate some might initially be concerned a 20mph limit would slow them down - but the reality is that the net result on total journey time is negligible in urban areas," she said.

"Yet lowering the speed limit does help to prevent the acceleration that is dangerous where a child could run out from behind a parked car or where pavements are narrow and pedestrians are only centimetres away.

"When you’ve been on the receiving end of a heavy skip speeding past your child, it makes you realise that 20mph is the only safe speed in urban areas."

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